Brillon says the project has been making good money during a particularly nasty winter that has seen demand for natural gas — a fuel used to heat homes — soar in North America.

"It's nice to have that opportunity for cash flow through the cold months and it's been a challenge getting it up and running at capacity, but it isn't really sort of our main strategy to keep Panuke around," she said.

After a string of delays, Deep Panuke finally started up late last year. It was originally supposed to go into production in late 2010.

It's designed to produce 8.5 million cubic metres per day of natural gas from four wells about 250 kilometres southeast of Halifax.

Encana CEO Doug Suttles, who took the reins of the Calgary-based natural gas giant in June, unveiled a new, leaner strategy for the company last fall.

Instead of investing in dozens of different regions, Encana is zeroing in on five profitable areas across North America. It has also cut 20 per cent of its workforce.